Slovak central bank ready to raise bank buffer if loan pressure rises

BRATISLAVA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Slovakia’s central bank may further increase the countercyclical capital buffer for banks if pressure on the loan market continues to rise, it said on Tuesday.

Household lending has risen quickly in recent years and in 2017 was up 13 percent year-on-year by the end of September.

The country became the first in the euro zone to introduce the extra capital buffer in 2016. Since August, banks have had to meet a buffer rate of 0.5 percent although the bank voted in July to raise the rate to 1.25 percent from next August 2018. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova; Writing by Jason Hovet)